Feeding utensil.



H. C. ROUTERY.

FEEDING UTENSIL. I

APPLICATION FILED DEG.16, 1912.

1,128,190. Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

Fly. 1

flsfizm 012 01119 YHE NORRIS PETERS co., PHOTO-LITHO WASHINQION, D (I,

UNIT $1 S 1 HERBERT C.- R0'UTEB-Y, OF LOS ANGELESf-GAZE4IFQRNIA FEEDINGUTZENSIL.

-- Specification of Letters-Patent.

-Pa5t911td Eebbt), 1915.

"Application filed December 16; 1912. seriarnol'vazizo.

To all whom it may'con'cem:

Be itknown that I,"HE'RBERT C. ROUTERY, a subjectof the King of. GreatBritain, residing at Los Angeles, inthe county of Los Angeles I andState of California, have invented a new and useful Feeding Utensil, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates more'particularly to the utensils known asbaby'spoons, but is also applicable to forks.

'An object of this invention is to provide a feeding utensil thataffords improved means for holding the operative part thereof, as thebowl or the fork body, securely in the hand of an infant with smallliability that the child will drop the utensil through clumsiness.

An object of this invention is to provide means to afford leverage toresist the downward tilting of the spoon bowl or fork tines toward thetip thereof, combined with means for securing the handle to the hand ofthe child, so that the inclination to drop the utensil will be lessened,and the certainty of holding the utensil will be increased; and this isefi'ected by providing a hook-like lateral handle extension, the samebeing connected to the body of the implement, to wit: the bowl of aspoon or the tine body of a fork, by a shank of suitable lengthextending from the heel of the utensil body.

A feature of the invention consists in the connection of such lateralhook-like handle extension with the body of the utensil by a shankextending at an angle of about 45 with the top plane of said body, thuscarrying the handle extension above the level of the bowl or tines ofthe utensil and enabling the child to insert said bowl or tines into thefood to be conveyed to the mouth, without bringing the fingers into suchfood.

The construction of the spoon or fork is such that a child using thesame will be compelled to handle it with the hand for which it isconstructed; thus to assist a child to use the right or the left hand,as the case may be, for such purpose to the exclusion of the other hand.This feature of construction, however, is not regarded as a part of theinvention and it will be sufficient to illustrate the invention asapplied in a right-hand baby spoon; the application in a left-hand spoonand in a fork being obvious therefrom.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure I is" a per'spective View of a righthand baby spoonerhbodying'the invention plan ofl'thefspoon. Fig.5 is abottom plan.

'Fi'gf fifis' 'of afor'mhav'ing' a broader upper handle limb than is"shown in the other views. v x I The'bo-wl or body" 1' ofthe spoon maybe of any suitable form, and the shank 2 of the handle preferablyextends aslant upwardly therefrom at an angle of about 45 degrees, moreor less, for a short distance, to wit: about three-fourths of an inch,more or less, and the handle is there formed in a bend 3 from which theintermediate or upper limb 4: extends aslant downward rearwardly at anacute angle with the longitudinal axis of the bowl or body for adistance of an inch and one-half, more or less, where it is continued ina downward and forward curve 5 and thence extends forwardly anddownwardly to the right under the upper limb to form the lower limb '6of a widely open hook which terminates in a slight upwardly deflectedtip 7. The upper and lower limbs 4 and 6 diverge from each other andform the bend 5 by which they are connected. By longitudinal axis of thebowl or body is meant that axis thereof, the extension of which passeslongitudinally through or along the shank. By this arrangement of thehandle, there is formed a forefinger receiving space 8 that is nearly ata right angle to the produced axis of the bowl to allow the forefingerto be inserted therethrough and to extend nearly in parallelism with thebowl, and when the forefinger is bent at the second joint and insertedthrough the handle, the thumb will extend along the upper limb 4 to gripsaid upper limb between the thumb and forefinger, said limb extendingacross the second joint of the forefinger, while the lower limb 6 isnaturally gripped between the second joint of the forefinger and thesecond finger, thus giving a firm double grip upon the handle by thethumb and the forefinger and second finger,-

the thumb meanwhile being in such angular relation to the bowl that whenthe child conveys the spoon to the mouth, the tip of the spoon willreadily enter the mouth so that the child may take the contents of thespoon into its mouth without any danger of spilling the same. It is thusseen that the handle of the spoon is formed in a hooklike loop,substantially normal to the axis of the bowl of the spoon and the shankof the handle. By reason of the diverging arrangement of the upper andlower limbs a firm grip is afforded between the thumb and the secondfinger pressing the upper and lower surfaces of the handle, while theforefinger is seated in the bend between said limbs to resist anytendency to drop down. The lower limb is broadened after the manner ofthe ends of spoon and fork handles, and the inner limb may be narrow, asshown in Figs. 1 to 5, or may be broader and flat,

as shown at 9 in Fig. 6. The object of of the bowl at an angle of 45degrees, more or less, is to give space for the fingers so that thespoon may be dipped into food without contacting the fingers with thefood.

I claim:

A feeding implement comprising a body, a shank, and a looped handleextending substantially at right angles to and to one side of that axisof said body which passes through said shank, the ends of said handlelying one below the other.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 9th day of December, 1912.

HERBERT C. ROUTERY.

In presence of JAMES R. TowNsEND, L. BELLE RICE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

